Helen Peabody holds a prominent place in the history of women’s education in the United States. In 1905, her name was given to the original building of the Western Female Seminary, founded in 1853 in Oxford, Ohio. Helen Peabody Hall stands in the Western College for Women Historic District, so designated on the Historic Register (now property of Miami University). Peabody was born May 6, 1826, in Newport, New Hampshire. She entered Mount Holyoke Female Seminary, South Hadley, Massachusetts, in 1844, graduating in 1848, and remaining to teach until 1853. In 1855, the Western board of trustees called her to Oxford to be the first principal of the newly established Seminary. She presided as its guiding light and architect of the curriculum until her retirement in 1888. The institution offered young women high-quality, low-cost education. Helen Peabody’s faith, energy, foresight, and perseverance saw Western through the Civil War and two major fires. Western College closed in 1974.